“We,” his mother said, “have decided this is one thing Caleb should have done for you. Harley knows the results must be kept from those she works with, and at the risk of losing her job, has offered to run blood tests herself to keep them out of the lab’s system.”
His dad frowned. “If you think it’s so necessary, why don’t you discuss it with Caleb first?”
Taylor stepped into the conversation. “I’m going to be very blunt here. We’re not telling Caleb anything about it right now, and we want you to do the same. We have our suspicions he might be behind you not getting better. We feel he could be doing you harm rather than good.”
His father turned his gaze on Blaise. Even though his dad’s body was weak, his eyes were as sharp as ever. “You agree with what Taylor said.”
Blaise nodded. “Yes. Actually it was I who first brought Caleb’s actions into question. This new medicine he’s giving you causes you to become sicker shortly after the injection. Caleb doesn’t seem to care. Mom called him yesterday and told him about the seizure you had and asked him to switch back to the old medication. He refused, Dad. He basically told Mom she didn’t know anything, and he, as a doctor, was the only one qualified to make that decision.”
His father’s lips thinned as he glanced at his mate, who nodded. He turned his attention back on Blaise. “I had no idea. Your mother never told me. Caleb has no right to talk to her in that manner.” He paused, as if thinking over what he’d been told. “I can’t say these new symptoms haven’t bothered me. If you truly feel Caleb is behind it then I’ll agree to the blood tests so long as Harley is the only one who sees the results.
And if we’re going to accuse Caleb of wrongful doing, we need proof before we can confront him.”
“That’s what Taylor and I agreed on,” Blaise said. “Harley is the only one who might be able to do that with the results.”
“You obviously trust her.”
Blaise glanced at Harley and smiled. “I do.”
“All right then,” his dad said with a nod.
“Let’s do this before Caleb arrives.”
“One other thing,” Taylor replied. “I’ll be here when my cousin arrives. I’m not going to allow him to give you another injection. To avoid him becoming suspicious, you and I are going to have a pretend argument in front of him about it, Dad. But the outcome will be I’ll win. Harley should have the results at the end of the day.”
Taylor looked at her. “Correct?”
Harley stepped closer to the bed. “Yes. And they’ll be for my eyes only. I don’t know why you need the secrecy, but I will abide by it. As soon as I draw the blood, I’ll head for the lab and then get the tests going while I work on other ones. I’ll bring the findings here at the end of my shift.”
His dad gave another short nod and tugged up the sleeve of his pajama shirt. Harley knelt on the floor, then took out the supplies she needed to draw the blood from the small bag she carried.
Blaise watched her set to work, her movements efficient and fast. It was all done in less than a minute.
She stood, placed the glass vials of blood, along with the items she used, back into the bag and smiled. “All done. I’d better go.”
“I’ll walk you out,” Blaise said.
His mother stopped them before they could leave. “Harley, plan to stay for dinner.”
“I will,” she replied. “I look forward to it.
Thanks.”
Blaise and Harley left the others in the master bedroom and headed down to the main level. At the door, Harley picked up her backpack, which she’d brought down earlier, and slung it over her shoulder. She turned to face him and went on tiptoe to kiss him. He resisted yanking her close and kissing her breathless.
“I’m going to miss you while you’re at work,” he said once he released her mouth.
“And I you.” She smiled. “But I’ll be back. At the rate I’m going, I’ll be living here soon.”
“You’re more than welcome to share my room with me.”
“You’d better watch it. I might take you up on that offer, especially since this place comes with a personal chef.”
He pretended to look hurt. “You wound me.
That’s the only thing that would make you want to move in?”
“Okay, not the only thing. I’d have to say getting you comes in at a close second.”
Blaise turned Harley around and smacked her on the ass. “Get out of here before I take you back upstairs to show you why I should be number one.”
She laughed. “See you later. If I have time, I’ll try to text you.”
Blaise closed the door behind Harley after she walked outside. He then headed back upstairs to his room to wait for Caleb to arrive. He didn’t think he wanted to miss out on seeing his dad’s and Taylor’s acting skills. Though pretending to argue wouldn’t be very hard for them since they tended to do that frequently anyway.
It wasn’t very long before Blaise heard the sound of Caleb’s footsteps coming down the hallway toward the master bedroom. Blaise opened his door and poked his head out to see his cousin disappearing through the open double doors at the end of the hall. It was showtime.
Blaise left his bedroom and headed for his parents’. By the time he’d reached it, Taylor and their father were already starting the “argument”.
Blaise stood at the doorway and watched them put on a good show for Caleb’s benefit.
His dad appeared to take Caleb’s side when Caleb strongly urged Taylor to change his mind about the injection. His cousin tried to reassure Taylor by stating the new side effects from the medication weren’t going to do any harm, and that he’d expected them to happen. Blaise didn’t let it show on the outside, but on the inside he was seething. Plus, more warning bells were going off inside his head. What kind of doctor would use a medication knowing his patient would go through such extreme side effects? Not a good one, in Blaise’s opinion.
The “argument” was over shortly after it began, with Taylor ending up the winner as he’d planned. Caleb didn’t look at all pleased with the outcome. If anything, he looked angry, even though he appeared to be trying to hide it. After a cursory examination of his patient, he stormed past Blaise and headed downstairs. The front door slammed shut a few seconds after that.
Blaise walked over to the bed. “Was it me or did Caleb seem angry?”
“Oh he was pissed,” Taylor said. “Even though he tried to quickly get it under wraps, I was closer to him and smelled it in his scent for the split second it lasted.”
Their father sighed. “I think you were right.
Caleb is hiding something. Either it’s his inability to help me and he doesn’t want to admit defeat or he’s purposely doing me harm.”
Blaise breathed a silent sigh of relief that his dad was now on the same page with them. It would have been more difficult if he’d stuck up for Caleb. Taylor and Blaise could have had a real fight on their hands.
Harley didn’t waste any time getting the blood tests started once she arrived at the lab. The way its system was set up, it wasn’t hard for her to slip the vials in without anyone being the wiser.
Being higher up on the ladder, she had more leeway with doing things than others, which helped the process.
As those tests ran, Harley worked on the others she had to do for the day. She enjoyed working in the lab, but today she found her thoughts straying to Blaise from time to time, and watching the clock, counting how many hours there were until she could leave. She did manage to send him a text during her lunch break, which he replied to. She’d had to make sure no one could see her phone since he’d texted what he planned to do to her once he had her locked inside his bedroom after they’d eaten dinner with his family. Her whole body had heated with arousal when she’d read what he’d sent.